There's More Than One Type Of Family
by Amelibum
Summary: A different look at what happens after that heartbreaking scene where Meredith is slapped by her own father. Instead of pushing Derek away she lets him in, because with what follows, she will need every ounce of his help and support. Mer/Der
1. Chapter 1

**This is my latest project.... TMTOTOF (There's More Than One Type Of Family)  
If you know me from my Bones fics you'll know I love acronyms hehe....**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Grey's Anatomy... if I did, Meredith and Derek would already have many happy, smiley and talkative children :D**

**Summary: A Mer/Der Fanfic that begins at that heartbreaking scene where Meredith is slapped by her own father after Susan's death. Instead of pushing Derek away she lets him in, because with what follows, she will need every ounce of his help and support.**

**I am going to use some dialogue from episodes in season three..... I'll be including some events that happened in the show in my sotry... I'm sure by now most people will have seen season three.... but incase you haven't and you don't want to be spoiled. I, regretfully, suggest you press the back button ;)**

**Warning Over....**

**Enjoy!**

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Derek POV

I watched her as she made her way towards her father. If I hadn't already heard about Susan I would have immediately known something was seriously wrong just by watching her. I could see it in her slumped posture. The way she walked as slow as she could, almost like if she walked slow enough, everything would disappear. She stopped a short distance away, and although I couldn't see her face, I knew it held the answers.

I heard her broken voice, and could sense that tears were only mere minutes away.

"We did... everything we could"

Thatcher's face immediately registered the news and his face went into that of shock. His eyes turned glassy and I watched in sadness as his mind tried to comprehend the tragedy.

"You said it was simple... like this... simple thing" he managed.

I heard her reply "It was" and then watched on in horror as his hand connected with her face.  
**  
**"She had the hiccups! She trusted you.... I trusted you." I saw her legs start to back track, and it wasn't long before she was running, and fast. I watched her come towards me and I fully expected her to push me away. It was almost a certainty. It was therefore completely shocking when I felt her run into my chest.

"Mer..." I tried to think of something soothing to say but when nothing came I resorted to holding her tighter against me.

"Have to get out of here.." I heard her mumble against my chest and I quickly made my legs move towards the nearest room that I could find. It turned out to be an on call room at the end of the corridor.

I pushed the door open and quickly checked to see if it was occupied and was relieved when noone was inside.

"Come in here" I encouraged and led her into the room. As I turned back to close and lock the door she had fallen to the ground and the tears that I had seen threatening to come were in full motion.

"Sssh.... It's okay Mer. It's Okay" I crouched on the floor in front of her and then sat down properly and let her crawl into my arms.

"She only.... had.... hiccups" She managed in between sobs.

"I know, this was not your fault, Mer. Not your fault." She didn't say anything in reply but I felt her body relax into mine.

We then sat in near silence, only the sound of her sobs could be heard. I methodically stroked her hair, trying to calm her and after only a few minutes her sobs decreased. She moved in my arms and looked at me, I offered a slight smile.

"I'm sorry for nearly dying" My eyes opened wide in alarm. That was definitely not what I was expecting. She leaned into me and kissed me before I even had to form an answer. "and I'm sorry that I stopped swimming" Again, she kissed me before I had the chance to answer. As she leaned away I started to talk, but she put up her hand to stop me.

"I just want to go home" I nodded and helped her to her feet.

"You're okay" I whispered and kissed her forehead.

"I'm okay" she repeated and we made our way out into the hallway.

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I had led her to the intern locker room and had told her to meet me in the lobby. She had just nodded and entered the room. As I walked to get changed, I reflected on what she had said. _"I'm sorry that I stopped swimming"_ Had she really said that? While I knew that we needed to talk about the issue, I had resigned to the fact that we would always avoid it until a much later date. Yet, her complete and utter honesty had made me feel warm with pride. Meredith, my dark and twisty Meredith had actually talked to me. She hadn't ran away after the event with Thatcher either. She was almost a different person.

Susan's death had come at the most difficult time. Days off the most important test of her whole intern career, she had to struggle with the fact that her 'fake-mommy' as she had called her, was gone.

"Hey, Shepherd" I looked up and nodded to the chief as I walked by.

"Uh, wait. Derek" I stopped and turned around.

"Meredith? Is she... uh... okay?"

"Yeah. Ecstatic." I whispered angrily.

"It's not my fault, Derek"

"Yeah, I know, sorry. I just can't believe that he hit her like that. Where is he anyway?"

"I left him where he was. He might still be there as far as I know. His daughters may have joined him."

Without even thinking I headed back to where I had previously led Meredith away from. I heard the chief yelling behind me, yet I just walked faster. I would make sure Thatcher would never come near my Meredith again. As I turned the corner, I saw Thatcher and all thoughts left my mind and the image of him slapping Meredith filled my mind.

One of his two daughters saw me first.

"Excuse me, we would like to see Susan Grey now?" her voice broke on the word. Her voice reminded him of what his sister had sounded like when their father had died. So long ago.... He shook his head, trying to rid the thoughts free from his mind.

"I want to talk to Thatcher" He said forcefully.

"I'm his daughter, Molly. What do you want?"

"I want him to keep away from my girlfriend"

"Your girlfriend? What?" I looked past her, and ignored her when she asked the question.

"Think you can just slap her? Treat her like crap, Thatcher? You know, despite what you think she's pretty amazing and to think you believe that you can treat her like crap after all this time is beyond me. So..."

"Excuse me! My father has just lost his wife! How dare you say that to him? Your girlfriend has nothing to do with him"

"Meredith Grey? Sound familiar?"

Molly looked surprised for a second and then recovered. "Leave my father alone, leave my family alone and keep her out of our life"  
I looked towards Thatcher again and noticed that he was now looking at me.

"You're pathetic" I turned and headed to my original destination.

"You know, she'll destroy you. She's just like her mother. She killed my wife" I ignored him and kept walking.

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"Hey" she gave me a slight smile

"Hey There" I returned her smile. I was still reeling from the accusations posed by Thatcher. I didn't understand how he could hate his own daughter so much.

"Where were you?" her voice was still hoarse from the crying she had done earlier.

"Sorry, didn't mean to take that long" I tried to avoid the real reason I had taken too long. She had enough on her plate.

Luckily, she was tired from crying and accepted my answer.

"Time to go home?" she asked. I nodded in reply and we made our way out of the hospital.

I put my arm around her waist and pulled her towards me.

"I'm really sorry about Susan, Mer" I felt her nod against my side.

"Me too" she whispered in reply "You know what's really weird?" she waited a few seconds before continuing "I feel worse about her death than my own mothers. Isn't that odd?"

"Susan was a great person, she was being really nice to you" she sighed

"I didn't like her at first, she stayed. She was better at being my mother for only weeks than my own mother was for my whole life. She trusted me and I killed her" I stopped walking and made her look at me

"Meredith, you didn't kill Susan. Not one person killed her, alright? There was nothing you could have done."

"Okay" I wrapped my arm around her again and we started to walk again. As we reached the car I let her go, but she grabbed my hand and smiled.

"Thanks for being there, Derek. Thankyou"

I turned to kiss her forehead "Nowhere I'd rather be, Mer. Nowhere I'd rather be"

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**Enjoy? Yes? No? Reviews would be very helpful :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for all the reviews. Means a lot.**

**About the characters of Thatcher and Molly. I see Thatcher as the bad person, obviously. So if you are a fan of his character or just don't want to see him get kind of crazy then probably not the fic for you.... Also, I'm more of a Lexie fan than a Molly fan. Therefore she may be OOC - even though we don't really know how she is - I consider she will always support her dad....**

**This chapter doesn't have a POV (I like to swap a lot between character POV's and just normal..)**

**I'm Aussie! Therefore we drive on the left side of the road, so the driver is on the right hand side of the car - Remember that.**

**Enjoy!**

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Derek enjoyed waking up before Meredith. He had pushed himself onto his side and was now leaning on his elbow watching her. He liked seeing her so natural and unafraid. It was unusual to see her at such an ease. Her face relaxed and almost adopted a slight smile as she slept. It made him happy that she could avoid her difficult life, even for just a little while. She could avoid her mother's death, Susan's death and her father. She could avoid everything. He wished he could provide her that sanctuary when she was awake.

It had taken a long time before she had eventually succumbed to sleep the night before. She had told him that she was fine, and although he knew it wasn't the case, he didn't push her. Talking had never been one of her strongest attributes. In fact, talking about issues in her life had never been an option before. It was going to take a while for her to realise that it was now.

He sighed and gently pushed a stray lock of her hair out of her eyes and she snored peacefully. He knew he should wake her up soon. Today was the day of the most important test in her intern career as well as the funeral of her 'fake-mommy'. He didn't know how she would be able to concentrate in the test and had told her many times that she should ask the chief to allow her to do it the next day but she had boldly refused. He didn't know if she would cope at the funeral, he didn't even know what kind of grief she was holding back. They were all unknowns, but there were three things he did know. One, he was going to be there every step of the way - he had gone and got the dreaded black suit out of the wardrobe at his trailer. Two, he wasn't going to let her push him away. He knew what she was like when it came to these things. She'd rather deal with it herself than talk it out - today that wasn't happening. Finally, Three, and it was the big one that he had no doubt about. He loved her with all his heart and while today would be hard, he was going to make it that little bit easier.

He felt her stir beside him and pushed his thoughts away as he rolled back onto his back. He thought she was sure to wake up but she felt for his presence and snuggled into him more firmly. He grinned, even her unconscious knew she needed him. He gave her a few more moments rest before deciding that it was time to face reality.

"Mer..." he whispered caressing her face as he did so. She mumbled a reply that he couldn't understand but didn't move.

"Meredith" he said a little louder this time. He then heard her groan and she opened one eye to look at him.

"Time to get up" he said and she stubbornly shook her head.

"Nope, I'm good here" Derek laughed and proceeded to get out of the bed forcing her to move.

"Hey! Pillows aren't supposed to move" Derek smirked

"So all I am to you is a pillow?" He pouted at her and she got up and perched herself on the end of the bed beckoning him to come to her. She put her arms around his neck and leaned into him and then whispered in his ear. "Yup" she giggled and ran off, out the door and into the hallway.

He ran after her and caught her at the stairs. She screamed "No fair, you have longer legs than me"

"You shouldn't run away, take it back"

She turned in his arms "Take what back?" she asked innocently.

He grinned and then started tickling her. She screamed in delight "Okay! Okay! Okay! I take it back" He stopped tickling her and let her go.

"Not" she yelled and ran away screaming again, and he followed her just as quickly.

Izzie opened her door, bleary eyed and looked across to Alex, who was doing the same thing.

"The calm before the storm" she declared and turned and shut her door.

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"Meredith, ready to go?" Derek yelled up the stairs as he waited by the door. He heard a soft yes and then Meredith appeared looking much less playful than she had been only an hour ago.

Derek gave her a small smile and opened the door, herding her out.

"We're going, Izzie, Meredith will be at the hospital just before the test" Derek yelled and when he heard an okay in response he slammed the door behind him and followed Meredith to the car, unlocking it on his way.

"You doing okay?" he asked, trying to ascertain what kind of mood she was in.

"Yeah, I'm fine" she said. He pulled out of the drive and made his way to the church where the funeral was to be held. Meredith had moved her body, her head was slumped in a very uncomfortable position against the window. Her hand sat on her thigh as she nervously kept moving it.

Derek sighed and took her hand in his left as he drove. She looked over at him and smiled.

"I'm Okay, Derek. Really I'm okay" he wasn't sure if she was trying to convince herself or him but he just nodded and squeezed her hand.

They made it to the church in only ten minutes. It was a beautiful church, just how he remembered the one when he was only young and attending his own father's funeral. He remembered all the people outside and when he had turned up with his sisters and his mother all eyes had switched to them and you could see the sympathy in their eyes. He knew now that he was much too young to seriously understand the concept that he would never see his dad again. As he got out of the car, the same thing happened. All eyes switched to him and he felt like he was there all over again. Meredith came around to meet him and he immediately looped his arm around hers.

"Want to go in?" Derek asked quietly, willing everyone to not look at them anymore.

"No, I just want to wait here for a bit" she said back as she got her sunglasses out of her bag and put them on. It was a sunny day, which was very rare for Seattle. Derek thought it was quite ironic, the one day where gloomy weather seemed appropriate and it turned out to be a fine sunny day.

They waited against the car and eventually everyone returned to their conversations. It wasn't long before two dark black cars entered into view. Derek sighed and hoped that Thatcher wouldn't cause a scene.

"Maybe we should go inside, Mer." He commented, deciding that maybe it was better to stay clear of Thatcher and the other family members, but Meredith didn't seem to mind, obviously she was thinking about other things entirely.

He watched as Thatcher exited the car and then Molly and Lexie were soon at either side of him. All of this was so sad. Susan was really bridging the gap between Thatcher and Meredith, she was trying to do good things. Derek knew that Thatcher wasn't intentionally being a bad person, he was completely overcome by grief, and Derek knew what that felt like.

They walked towards the church doors and everyone was starting to follow when suddenly Thatcher turned his head and saw Meredith and his face became full of anger. He marched over, despite both Molly and Lexie trying to hold him back.

"What are you doing here?!" he yelled and Derek's grip on Meredith inreased, pushing her behind him.

"Leave her alone, Thatcher." Derek said, trying to defuse the situation.

"You don't get to be here. You killed my wife! She was... everything... to me...you killed her"

"No, Thatcher. Meredith did not kill Susan. It wasn't her fault" Derek tried to stay calm, but he could smell the alcohol that was coming of Thatcher, and he knew this could turn nasty very quickly. He looked to Lexie, and she seemed to take the message.

"Come on dad, mum's inside" she whispered, using more strength on his arm and tugging him towards the door. He started to obey and allowed himself to be led inside.

"Come on Mer, we'll just sit in the back okay?" Derek asked her and tried to hide her from the prying eyes.

She could only nod, but seemed to be happy to stay behind him for the time being. He waited until everyone had gone inside before leading her in and sitting on the farthest seat from the front. She immediately leant her head on his shoulder and he could see that she was going to start crying again, but this time he knew it was necessary.

He hadn't cried for his dad at his funeral, he had simply sat between two of his sisters as they wept, looking for someone to jump out and say it was all a joke. That noone was going anywhere. Yet, at the same time, even at that young age, he seemed to realise that it wasn't going to happen. Yes, he might not have understood what was really going on, but his young mind had known something was just not right. He understood what grieving meant after he cried for his father. He understood that sometimes crying was a way of letting out all those words inside of you that you just can't say. It was also a way of complaining to the universe. Why did you have to go and do that?

It wasn't fair, life wasn't fair. He had wondered why for a long time after fully comprehending what had happened to his father. Why had his father died? Why so young? Did he choose to go? Did he not love his only son anymore? It was years after before he understood. Life just wasn't fair and sitting back in a church watching as another family said goodbye to someone who wasn't meant to die made it all seem so much more true. His father wasn't meant to die. Susan wasn't meant to die. Life was unfair.

The ceremony passed with many tears, but nothing out of the ordinary for a funeral. Meredith hadn't moved and when the final words were being spoken and he had tried to suggest they move, she didn't want to. He was worried about what would happen if Thatcher saw them. But she was grieving and she needed to do it.

The last of the people started to filter out of the church, and he saw Thatcher get up with his teary daughters and while the daughters talked to the priest he headed towards the exit, head down. They needed to leave now, he didn't want another argument. Noone wanted that.

Too late.

"I thought I told you not to come here?!" Thatcher growled

"We were just leaving" Derek said calmly, pulling Meredith up with him and leading her out of the church. He was starting to get worried that she wasn't speaking up.

"You know you can't protect her" Thatcher yelled through the open church door and Derek pushed Meredith into their waiting car and turned to face him. This had gone on long enough.

"Listen to me, Thatcher. Meredith did not kill Susan. Do you get that? She did not kill Susan. She came here today to grieve, just like you. Okay? I was being nice to you because your wife had just died but this has gone on long enough. She's your daughter and Susan was bringing you two together."

Then Thatcher started laughing "Together? She's no daughter of mine. These two girls next to me are my daughters. That girl there? She's a product of her mother. Too stuck up to realise who she hurts. She'll kick you around for a while then move onto the next one. Just like her mother"

"I'm not like my mother" Derek whirled around to see Meredith standing behind him, and before he could say anything she continued.

"I didn't do anything to Susan. Don't you think that I would have helped her if I could have? I'm not like Ellis Grey, because I care" she whispered

"You killed my wife. My Susan. I don't care what you think and you'll pay for what you did. At least your mother could actually perform surgeries and save people. Watch out" he spat the last words.

"Dad!" Lexie screamed at him and then pushed him towards their car.

Derek watched him go in complete amazement. Grief did funny things to a person, but that was totally uncalled for. He watched as Meredith sunk to the ground. He ran to catch her.

"Whoah... Mer... you okay?" She shook her head and then started to sob. He gently rocked her back and forth.

"It wasn't your fault, Meredith, none of it was" he said quietly and lifted her up to the car and sat her in the passenger side. She stopped crying only a few minutes later and looked at him.

"I'm sorry" she said. His expression changed to confusion.

"What are you sorry for?" he questioned.

"For being distant"

"We don't have to talk about that now, Mer. Do you want to talk about Susan?" he asked.

"No... you know what I learnt from Susan?" Derek shook his head in answer

"That life is short and stupid and never goes the way you want it to. I died, I actually was dead for a long time, Derek. I had this weird... experience... when I was dead. I know I'm going to sound crazy but just go with me here"

Derek look puzzled, but said okay just the same.

"Denny was there, and the bomb guy? He was there too as well as Doc" she smiled for a moment "I wasn't sure if I wanted to go back, Derek. I really wasn't sure. I had all these things going through my mind and then Denny said something" she stopped.

"Uh... what did Denny say?" he prompted

"He started talking about you" she smiled " he told me that you were waiting for me and that if I didn't come back to you, I'd change who you were"

"He was right" Derek sighed and Meredith saw his eyes start to become glassy she grabbed both his hands and forced him to look at her.

"I came back for you, Derek. I came back for you" Meredith smiled "Susan? She was a good person. She didn't deserve to die."

"I know" Derek whispered "I'm glad you came back, Mer"

"Me too" she said back, and leant in and kissed him.

Meredith didn't know what the future held, but of one thing she was sure. She loved Derek. There was nobody else in the world like him, nobody that was so optimistic, loving, caring and funny. It was her time to make history. Her mother had made history through the surgery world and Meredith had learned to realise that making history didn't have to mean making a new surgery technique. It just meant that you had to do something special. While she sat, looking at the church which had been the final location of a life that was cut way too short, she promised herself that she would do that something special. What was that something special? She would love Derek Shepherd until her last breath and she would be the only person to do it. And today?

Today was the day to start making history.

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**Hope you enjoyed that.... Tell me your thoughts :)**

**Amelibum xx**


	3. Chapter 3

**Again, sorry for the delay but at least it's here... right?**

**I hope everyone had a very good Christmas, if you celebrate, if not, the start of a good holiday. I'm going to try and write lots more before I have to start thinking about school (I'm doing my final year) Anyway...**

**Here's the next chapter.... starting to get into this stories' plot now.**

**Enjoy!!**

* * *

You're going to be great" Derek murmured, as he steered the car through another intersecetion.

They had left the church and were now on their way back to the hospital. Meredith's mind should have been full of medical facts and information that would make sure she would pass the most important test of her intern year, and maybe even her medical career, yet her mind kept reliving what Thatcher had said to her and now pictures of Susan had filtered into her mind.

She threw a smile to Derek and then leant her head against the cold glass window. She realised that this was something that she should tell Derek, she could do it tomorrow, he'd say. She would do this test and she would pass. That's all she had to do now. The rest could wait.

She watched as he pulled into the hospital carpark and she took a deep breath before releasing her seatbelt and making her way out of the car.

"You're quiet" Derek commented as he came around and grabbed her hand.

"Just going over everything for the test" she sighed, she never liked lying to Derek, especially now that they were going so well.

"Okay" he said, doubt filled his voice and she was worried he had caught her lie, but he didn't ask her again.

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"So how was it?" Cristina asked as she entered the locker room. Meredith look over at her.

"It was a funeral, how do you think it went?" Cristina instantly got the message and backed off.

Meredith sat down on a bench and covered her face with her hands. She just had to do this. Just get through this and everything would be fine. She felt Cristina sit down next to her.

"You okay?" Cristina asked with a voice full of concern.

"I'm fine. Really." She added a smile and looked up as Izzie, George and Alex all entered the room.

"Everyone ready to do this test?!" she heard Alex ask and the others chorused a yes. She looked down at the floor and tried to will images that she didn't want out of her head.

Suddenly, silence filled the room and she looked up to find all eyes on her. This was something that was starting to get annoying. Everyone looking at you, pity filling their eyes. She didn't want pity, she just wanted to get this test done and go home with her boyfriend.

"What?" Izzie spoke up first.

"How was the funeral?" Cristina hissed nearby and she chose to ignore the question.

"I think what Izzie means is that you could do this test another day" George added.

Meredith rose to her feet and the words tumbled out of her mouth.

"The funeral was a bloody funeral! It was horrible, how do you think it went, huh? Want to hear all the juicy details? How about my own father attacking me? Saying I killed his wife? That juicy enough for you? Stop looking at me with pity alright? Just get over it!"

"Mer.." George interjected

"No! I know you all think I'm pathetic. Dark and twisty Meredith. Oh poor her with her father problems. I'll do this intern test and then I'll go home with my boyfriend and I'll be fine! Just leave me alone"

Nobody said anything and seconds later the chief entered the room telling them it was time to go. As she turned to leave the chief called her name.

"Meredith, if you would like to do this another day I can organise it for you" Meredith sighed, and picked up her water bottle, pens and moved towards the door, before turning around as she reached the door.

"You are not my father" with that she left .

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It was hours later when she left the room and it finally occured to her that she was done. It was over. Her career was over and there was nothing that could be done now. With that realisation her feet moved faster and faster, she had to get out of the hospital. She weaved past people on floors and made her way into the elevator and then out again as she hurried across the lobby floor. It was only then that she realised that she had come with Derek, in Derek's car and she didn't have the keys. She couldn't get out of the hospital.

Her breathing rapidly got quicker and she looked across to the chairs opposite of where she was standing and forced herself to go and sit down. As she struggled for breath she looked around to find a figure coming towards her. Her blurry eyes prevented her from recognising the figure and when she heard his voice she gasped with relief.

"Oh god, Mer" He pulled her into his chest "It's okay, I'm right here, you're fine" He tried to calm her down but it wasn't working and she was starting to sob quite loudly. He knew how much she didn't like hospital gossip.

"Okay, Mer. I'm going to get you home alright? You just have to take some deep breaths." She nodded in response and tried to calm down. He stood her up and lead her out of the hospital. As the cold air reached them both, Meredith started to talk.

"I didn't do anything" she managed as she still breathed deeply.

"Huh?" Derek asked confused.

"The test, I didn't.... I couldn't answer anything" Understanding washed over Derek's face and he stayed silent for a few moments before saying anything.

"We'll work it out, Mer"

"I'm sorry" she whispered, the tears now falling freely down her face.

"What are you sorry for?" he asked, confusion reaching his eyes.

"I didn't tell you about it before. I just wanted to get through it"

"What do you mean?"

"I knew I wouldn't be able to do that test, all I see is Susan. All the time, and then if I get her out of my head it's my own father, so angry that he slapped me" her voice broke on the last words and Derek pulled her tighter to his chest.

"Everything is going to be okay, alright? Let's get you home" He opened the door to the car and directed her in and watched with concern as her head slumped against the window after he closed the door.

He quickly got in the other side and grabbed her hand, lightly kissing her knuckles. She turned to him and smiled.

"I'm just going to sleep, okay?" she asked quietly, not waiting for an answer as she closed her eyes and leaned back into her chair.

Derek watched her for a few more moments before he started the car up and headed for home.

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"Is Meredith with you?" he heard Izzie ask, her voice worried, after he had grabbed the ringing phone as fast as he could, afraid of it waking Meredith up.

True to her word, Meredith had got to sleep in the car and hadn't awoken when he had picked her up out of the car and walked her all the way into their bedroom. He had placed her in their bed and her eyes had opened slightly to look at him, but he had encouraged her back to sleep. He didn't think she had had much sleep lately.

When he had heard the phone ring downstairs he had ran down to get it, hopefully stopping any chance of Meredith getting up.

"Yeah, I've got her" he assured Izzie.

"Oh! Good, we were worried for a second there, you know what happened?"

"Yeah, everything is okay, she's just sleeping for the moment, so can you discourage any further phone calls please?"

"Yeah, I'll do that Dr Shepherd"

"Derek"

"Sorry?"

"My name is Derek, I'm only your boss when I'm in that hospital. I do live with you, Izzie"

"Yes, of course. Sorry." she answered, flustered "I'll, uh, be home later on. Goodbye Derek" Derek laughed at her obvious discomfort.

"Bye Izzie" he put the phone down and moved into the kitchen, hoping Meredith would get a few hours. It was only four in the afternoon, but the rest of their room-mates wouldn't be home till much later in the evening.

As he made himself an omelette he faintly heard a phone ring and swore as he ran back upstairs. As he came into the bedroom the phone stopped ringing, but he knew it was his, which was sitting on the bedside table.

"Derek?" he heard Meredith's voice, very quietly. Obviously, the ring hadn't woke her up completely. He went to her side of the bed and crouched down, collecting her mobile and his at the same time.

"Don't worry, I've got it, go back to sleep" he gave her a smile, and leant in to kiss her forehead.

"Okay" her eyes closed again and in only a few seconds her snores filled the room. He quietly left the room, closing the door behind him. As he walked back downstairs his phone rang once again. He answered it without looking at the caller ID.

"Hello"

"Shep, it's Richard"

"Oh, sorry Richard. I've gone home with Meredith, she didn't have a good day today"

"That's fine, Shep. Dr Yang came and informed me. On the grounds of the funeral being today, I have organised for Meredith to complete another intern test tomorrow."

Derek sighed with relief. Meredith would be so happy, especially once she had got some sleep and was relaxed.

"That's great, Chief. Meredith will really appreciate that. I better go"

"Oh, wait, Shep. I have some other news."

"Oh, okay. What's that?"

"I know this is a really bad time, Shep, but it's really important for the hospital. I need you to do this."

"Sure, what am I doing?"

"There's a week long conference in New York, regarding any new techniques in neurosurgery. All the neurosurgery department heads are attending"

"That doesn't sound so bad, when is it? Next month?"

"I'm really sorry for the short notice, I wasn't going to bother you. It starts on the weekend"

"The weekend? But that's the day after tomorrow! I can't do that chief, not with Meredith how she is"

"You'll have to leave tomorrow afternoon. I'm sorry, Derek. I really need you to do this."

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**Will he go??**

**Amelibum xx**


	4. Chapter 4

**As always (I seem to make this a habit) I'm very sorry for the time between chapters. Unfortunately I won't be able to continue writing fanfics after February as I will be starting my final year of high school which is incredibly important. One shots may come up now and then but my two multi-chap stories will be on hold indefinitely.**

**BUT, until then I'll try and post as much as possible. Just celebrated my birthday so that's been the reason for the lack of writing going on, therefore lack of updating! Reviews makes good birthday presents ;)**

**Enjoy!**

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Derek's life had been full of important decisions. Decisions that, at the time, seemed so important that they would affect the rest of his life. He thought he was a quick, smart thinker. He knew what he wanted to do and he did it. He had decided only days after his father's funeral that since he was the only man left in the house, he should take care of everyone else. Therefore, grieving for his father had taken a back seat and he had put all his effort into caring for his sister and his distraught mother. It was months later before his mother had stopped him, telling him that he had done enough. He had then gone through important decisions like deciding to be a surgeon, then choosing to be a neurosurgeon, and then staying in New York. The decision that should have been the most important of his young life was getting married. Yet, it wasn't at all.

At the time, Derek had thought that there was nothing that could break him and Addison. They were destined. Fated to be together. He believed in that kind of thing and when he had found that someone that he thought ticked all the correct boxes, he didn't think there needed to be a decision. It was just a general course that they should move forward in the relationship. Just a natural step. Maybe that was why it ended the way it did. The first decision he had not thought about in his life and it had been the wrong one or maybe it was because the fate he believed in so much had decided that the life he was living, wasn't for him. He needed to meet Meredith.

Now, he needed to make another important decision, but this time, he didn't know what to do.

------

He heard her footsteps before she came into his vision. Her hair was wet and sticking to her neck and she was now changed into a pair of sweatpants and a tanktop. He smiled up at her as her eyes found him on the couch and quickly came to sit next to him, allowing her head to fall onto his shoulder.

"Mmmm" she sighed, obviously comfortable.

"Using me as a pillow again" Derek playfully replied, shaking his head in mock disapproval.

"You love me" She replied easily.

"Yeah, I do" he smiled down at her and she grinned back.

"Thanks for letting me sleep" she whispered and stood up.

"That's okay. I have to talk to you about something" Derek admitted, knowing he would have to tell her eventually even though he hadn't decided on what he would be doing.

"Not now, I'm actually feeling alright."

"I really need to talk to you, Meredith" She ignored him, instead she slowly walked out of the room.

"I'm thinking I might just go upstairs, take all my clothes off, jump in bed" she had reached the stairs by now and had turned back to look at him "but if you want to talk I'm sure we could do that" she giggled as he visibly gulped.

"I'm sure it can wait" he quickly ran after her. Somewhere inside his head, he knew it wouldn't wait long, though.

-------

As Derek supported his head with his elbow and leaned over to watch Meredith sleep, the decision was still weighing heavily on his mind. He had to decide in the next couple of hours, it was obvious which one he wanted to do. He wanted to stay with his girlfriend. His face contorted into a smile when he said those words. He was meant to be here, it was his job as responsible boyfriend. She had finally stopped running, he didn't think that he could now take over that job. Yet, at the same time he knew it was an important part of his job to attend these kind of things, and he could stop over and see some of his family, especially his mother who had been hounding him lately about his lack of appearances over the last year and beyond. He wasn't running from Meredith, though. He could never do that.

He sighed, the only way he would be able to leave Meredith for a week, would be if he knew she was being well taken care of. He looked up at the time as he heard doors opening and closely in the hallway and downstairs. He slowly and quietly moved out of bed, finding a shirt to throw over his head and then a pair of sweatpants to put on and exited the room and headed downstairs. He recognised the voice of Izzie and Alex, then Cristina followed not long after. Perfect.

As he moved into the kitchen, they were all standing around a box of pizza he headed straight to get a coffee, and then decided against it and reached into the fridge to get some juice instead.

"Dr Shepherd" he heard Izzie say

"Derek" he said back as he replaced the lid on the bottle and returned it back to the fridge.

"Oh, sorry Dr Shep.. I mean Derek" she giggled and he gave her a slight smile before turning to Cristina and then Alex.

"I need you guys to do me a favour" He began and watched as they all looked at him waiting for him to continue. "I have to go to New York tomorrow, for a week. Conference thing for the hospital. Um.. I.. uh" he realised how stupid this would sound, asking them to take care of an adult. "I need you to take care of Meredith for me"

He heard Cristina snigger behind him

"Like how you take care of her, you mean?" He grimaced as her words brought back bad memories.

"Nevermind, I wont go" he snapped back and grabbed his glass and moved out of the kitchen. Someone followed behind him and he turned to see Alex standing there.

"You can go"

"It's alright, forget I said anything, I'll get one of the residents to go on my behalf, I'm sure Dr..."

"Look, mate. I don't do emotional speeches, but that girl is like my sister. Alright? You can go" the statement shocked Derek, he hadn't really considered Alex and Meredith to be very close.

"Uh... Okay" he nodded, and accepted the hand Alex offered and shook.

"We'll take care of her, Derek" Izzie promised, much more calmly than Alex, as she moved towards the lounge

"Thank you" he smiled, gratefully.

Decision made.

-------

As he slipped inside the room again he placed the juice on the bedside table and sat on the bed, carefully stroking Meredith's hair.

"Derek?" she croaked, her voice still thick with sleep.

"Who else were you expecting?" he asked playfully and watched as her body moved and then snuggled up against him, her head lying on his lap.

"Noone" she whispered, her eyes still shut tightly.

"I think you've had enough sleep for a long time"

"Mmm Sleep is good" she grinned and finally opened her eyes.

"I have to talk to you, are you awake properly yet?" he asked. His tone changing into something serious, a remarkable difference to their previous playful banter.

"We could do the talking later" she replied cheekily, moving her body up his and connecting her hands behind his neck. She was disappointed when he grabbed them both and pushed her off.

"No, I need to talk to you now"

"Fine" She stubbornly crossed her arms and moved to the other side of the bed and sat crosslegged.

"Hey, I'm sorry. Come here. It's really important, Mer" She relented and returned to his side.

"Okay, what's up?" She asked, finally taking this 'talk' seriously.

"Richard rang last night..." he began quietly. He knew what his decision was now, he didn't know how he would actually do it, but she had people to take of her, she's be alright and he really needed to see his family.

"And?" she prompted

"I'm going to New York, for a week-long conference" Her face turned to confusion.

"Okay, why is this so important now? If he only asked you last night it must be a while away"

"I'm leaving today" he eventually said and watched realisation cross over her face.

"Oh" He quickly grabbed her nearest hand and lightly kissed her knuckles.

"I wasn't going to go... but you're going to be alright. You've got some great friends, just let them help you" he was surprised to see her eyes start to get glassy and her eyes looked down almost immediately.

"I don't have to go, Mer... I can stay if you want" he reasoned, knowing that if she wanted him to he would. No questions asked, even if he had already decided. Decisions can change after all.

"No, no it's Okay. You go" she smiled up at him

"I'm not running away, I love you okay? Nothing will ever change that. You wont even realise I'm gone"

She laughed bitterly "I think I will" he watched her take a deep breath and tilted her head up so he could look at her.

"You're going to be fine, Mer" he smiled and stopped some tears with his thumb that were now falling down her cheeks.

"It's only a week, right?" She asked, looking for assurance.

"Only a week" he agreed. Pulling her into his arms. They sat there for a few minutes, holding onto each other. Derek pushed her back so he could see her face.

"Want to continue where we left off?" he asked, the playful tone in this voice was back. She shook her head, instead she returned to her spot and leant her head against his chest.

"I just want to stay like this for a while" She murmured.

"Okay" he tightened his grip on her waist and pulled her even closer to his body.

Meredith knew that she would miss him, even if it was for only a week. He had become a sort of comfort to her. What was it they called it? A rock. That was it. Derek was her rock. Her big, solid rock. Although she would be without him, she found herself feeling better than she had in a long while. There was a feeling of confidence, she would be alright. A week was only, what,168 hours? How did she even know that?! She had waited years for him to come back to her, she could last a week. He felt him kiss her forehead and she smiled against his chest.

"I love you, Mer" her smile grew even bigger.

"I love you too" as she returned those three little words she closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of comfort that only he could provide.

"Everything will be alright, I Promise" his voice was so sure, so confident that she had to believe it.

If only they knew this promise, wasn't to come true.

_"If you are cold at night, let the promise of my love cover you like a warm blanket"_

_

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_

** Amelibum xx**


	5. Chapter 5

***Insert massive, sincere apology here***

**Yeah, I know. It's been way too long. Hope people are still out there...**

**Enjoy**

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Meredith had always loved the idea of airports. The idea of leaving to start an entire new journey was completely outrageous but at the same time sounded so good. She could still remember when she had left Boston on her way back to Seattle. It was a homecoming of sorts, yet she felt it was a new experience. A newer, more wise Meredith was going to come back and make something of herself. She never thought the next time she would be in an airport would be so damn emotional.

"I'm going to be back in no time" Derek whispered into her hair for the fourth time in only a few minutes, as they embraced in the main airport building.

He only felt a nod against him in return. He sighed and separated unwillingly.

"You're going to be fine, Mer. Just keep that beautiful smile on your face. Okay?" she had to smile at that and she watched as he leant down to pick up his suitcase.

He stood up straight and gave her one last grin. "Bye" he said, and pecked her cheek. "I love you"

Meredith licked her lips and was surprised to taste salt. She grimaced and scolded herself. It's only for a week, Meredith. You'll be fine.

"Bye, I love you too" His smile grew wider at those words and he turned around and headed for the check-in point.

She waited only a few minutes until we was completely out of site, took a deep breath and headed back to the car.

It would be a long week.

* * *

Derek was surprised at how fast the week was going. Although he thought about Meredith every single moment he had free, those moments were a rarity as he turned meeting upon meeting and lecture upon lecture. He had shook hands with countless people and had been introduced to so many names that he would never remember again. He had been in contact with Meredith at least twice a day. A rule which had manifested from their first phone conversation. He could tell what kind of mood she was in by just hearing her voice, and he was sure she would manage another two days without him with no difficulty at all.

He was to return Monday evening, and Meredith had already organised her shift so she could pick him up. She had found the past few days not as bad as she thought she would. Sure, it had been difficult at first, but all her friends had been incredibly supportive and Alex was making sure she ate and slept well, which she thought was a bit suspicious but left it alone.

It was Friday afternoon, the weather in Seattle had been gradually becoming worse through the week and it hit its peak on the final working day of the week. Strong storms had made driving very difficult and many trees were falling down and buildings were suffering immeasurable damage.

Victims started to make their way into the hospital and more serious accidents were becoming more common throughout the day. Meredith had been working for almost 25 hours straight and was technically meant to be home two hours ago. She had attempted to leave many times, but was always stopped by a nurse looking for another doctor to try and fix the growing number of patients needing cuts looked at.

As she fixed up her latest patient she turned to see the chief watching her. It was a rare site to see the chief of surgery in the pit when there were many surgeries currently working their way through all the OR's.

"Chief? What brings you down to the pit?" Meredith asked, as she collected more supplies.

"Ah, Dr Grey. I believe you have been working for 25 hours now. I think everyone down here can keep this under control, time to go home."

"But Chief, I'm happy to help. It's really busy at the moment"

"Dr Grey, you have helped considerably, but need I remind you that you need sleep to be at your best. Go Home, Meredith" he repeated and held his hands out for the supplies she had just collected.

She shrugged in reply and quickly made her way out of the pit and up to the intern room. She changed as quickly as possible and almost ran out of the hospital.

* * *

Meredith and Derek had developed a routine for their two daily phone calls. They called each other once in the morning and once in the evening. Meredith knew that Derek was at a meeting this evening and wouldn't be available to receive a phone call until much later, so she decided that going straight to bed would be the best idea.

As she walked in the door, she instantly recognised the silence and realised that all her friends wouldn't be finished to much later in the evening. With that knowledge she put some bread in the toaster and sat on the counter as she waited.

She heard a faint knock at the front door and she jumped off the counter with a confused expression.

"Who is it?" she yelled through the door. When there was no response, she looked through the glass and stopped dead.

On the other side was an obviously alcohol influenced Thatcher. She considered not answering the door and walking away, but thought better of it. He'd stay there all night. All she had to do was get him to go away. She looked towards the phone and wished that Derek were here with her. Turning back to the door she opened it and took an involuntary step back.

"Meredith" he slurred.

"What do you want Thatcher?" she asked.

"I wanted... talk with Meredith" Thatcher said and then without warning he walked past her, despite her trying to not let him in.

"Okay, so talk. I'm really tired."

"You killed my wife" he stated simply.

"No, I didn't. It wasn't my fault. Please, can you just go" she opened both doors and stood next to it.

"I need... drink" he sank into the couch, ignoring her request to leave.

"Water. I can get you some water" She shut the door.

"No water, something stronger"

"Look, I'm giving you water. If you want something stronger, go somewhere else"

"Always was useless" He commented

"What do you want, Thatcher?" She brought a glass of water back into the room and sat it on the table.

"I want you to understand what you did. She was my wife"

Meredith heard the phone ring, and knew it would be Derek. She moved towards it, to answer it but stopped when she saw Thatcher stand and come towards her.

"Get away from me" she whispered, not feeling at all confident bout her situation. The phone rang off and she wished to be anywhere but where she currently was.

"I just wanna talk, Meredith"

"You can talk from there" She watched as he slowly got angrier and angrier.

"Why did you do it? Why'd you kill her?"

Meredith finally decided she had had enough. She opened the door and pointed to it, turning back towards Thatcher.

"I did not kill Susan, alright? She died because of medical reasons. Stop thinking that I did it! Maybe then you would be able to have a chance of getting over it and you can stop being the worthless father that you always were"

It was the person behind her that she did not see until it was too late. She felt the knife enter her back and before she could even think of what was going on she was on the floor.

Thatcher stood shocked, his drunken stupor not letting him really believe what was happening.

"Molly, what have you done?"

The phone rang again and Molly jumped from the sound and stood completely still as what she had just done reached her foggy mind.

"Oh my god. What did I do? What did I do? Dad, I didn't mean that. She called you a bad dad, you're not a bad dad. You said she killed mum, right? So this is payback, right? She killed her didn't she? Daddy?"

The alcohol in Thatcher's system stopped him from feeling any remorse for what his daughter had done. He pushed his daughter out the door and patted her on the back.

"Let's go, we have to go. Don't worry, you did the right thing. She killed your mum, she deserved it."

"I did the right thing daddy?"

"Yeah, you did the right thing. Your mum would be proud. Now we need to go."

Molly smiled at her dad and didn't even turn back when she heard Meredith plea for help. She left the house quickly and got in her car and drove away. Thatcher walked over to the phone and threw it against the wall to stop the sound.

"This is what you deserve for hurting my wife, Meredith. This is what you deserve." he left the house, leaving the door ajar.

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**Read. Love. Review.**

**Abum x**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks to the people who took the time to review. I really do appreciate it. All those that put alerts and favs through, I thank you as well.**

**A little shorter chapter, this one, planning for what happens next.**

On with the story....  


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Meredith watched as her own father walked away from her, leaving her for dead and knew that she had never thought it would end this way. It was ironic to her that the one time she could not accept death was the only time she was only a few breaths away. There had been various times when she was much younger that sometimes she thought it would have been easier not to be there. Her mother could have lived without the constant reminder of the failure of her marriage and the annoyance of a child, and she could have lived without the pain of being rejected every single day. It would have been easy then and she could have chose to end it in a way that didn't involve lying on the floor from being stabbed.

She didn't want to die. She actually, really didn't want to die. Just for a second as the pain swept through her the thought of letting go came to her mind and then the image of Derek smiling stuck and she didn't want to go anywhere. This couldn't be the end. Dying from a stab wound from a half sister because her drunk father told her a lie was not the way she wanted to end her life. She wanted to die of old age with Derek by her side holding her hand. She wasn't dying today.

She forced herself to open her eyes and was met with a view of the roof. She turned her head and was shocked to see what the room looked like. The floor around her was stained with blood and the room looked like there had been a war fought inside it. She supposed, in a way, there had been. She saw her shattered phone on the opposite side of the room and knew that Derek would already be freaking out. She made herself bite her lip as she turned her whole body to the side looked to the other side of her and groaned when she saw the time. Her friends wouldn't be home for hours. It was only then, through her exhausted state, that she realised she was the only one who could help herself now.

She tried to push herself up with her arms, but sunk back to the floor with a strangled cry. She felt the nausea spread up her body like water and bit back the urge to vomit. How was she meant to get help? She knew there was a house phone at the base of the steps but that was a good 4 metres away now and there was no way she would reach it in her current condition. Tears sprang to her eyes as she acknowledged the possibility that she was going to bleed out very soon. It wasn't long before she felt herself lose her concentration as her sight blurred and then become aware that she was falling asleep. She settled back into her position on the floor and prayed that somebody would come. Before it was too late.

* * *

As Meredith was praying for help, George had finally found Cristina after half an hour of searching.

"Cristina! Where are you going?!" George yelled across the foyer of the hospital as he saw Cristina leaving. She turned at his voice.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm leaving. Chief told me to go home. I told him I was fine, got the same amount of energy as a freaking two year old on sugar, but apparently it wasn't good enough" She shook her head in disgust and turned to leave.

"Wait" George said as he grabbed her arm.

"Seriously, Bambi. Sooner I get out of here, sooner I can come back. What do you want?" She shook her arm free of his grip and turned to him with raised eyebrows.

"Can you go home and check on Meredith? I know everyone thinks she's okay, but Izzie and I won't be home for a while and I have this feeling"

Cristina laughed "Little lovesick, huh? Meredith is fine, alright? Stop worrying about her"  
"Cristina. Come on, just go say hello or whatever it is you two do"

"Look, George. It's sweet, and a tad sad that you care about her so much, but Meredith will survive without anyone with her for one night. She is an adult. I'm going home to sleep" she turned and quickly walked away muttering about energy. George sighed and checked his watch, cursing to himself when he realised he should have been back in the pit ages ago.

"Thanks for the help, Cristina!" he yelled, sarcastically, to her back and only got a hand up in acknowledgment. He just hoped she was okay.

* * *

"Seriously, George. It was so awesome! This guy had somehow got a gear stick stuck in his leg! He said he was just driving and then was changing gears and it just came off and then the car slipped in the wet and he got it stuck in his leg. I mean, how cool is that?!"

George just nodded to her as he pulled the car up into the driveway of the house. It had been only an hour and a half since George had pleaded with Cristina to go and check on Meredith and ever since he couldn't displace the feeling of dread. Both him and Izzie had been told to go home and take the opportunity to rest, as they expected even more numbers of people coming in the hospital tomorrow.

"Was the guy okay?" he asked absently. Izzie stared at him in confusion

"Well, yeah. He was fine, but that's not the point he had a gear stick in his leg." she sighed in pleasure "So cool"

George skipped up the steps to the house, slide his key in the keyhole, pushed the door open and froze. Izzie, who had been talking animatedly about another case that she had worked on that day ran into his back.

"It's called walking in the door, George" she waited a moment and was confused when she got no response. "George. Will you move. What's wrong?" She pushed past him and gasped.

"Oh My god. There's so much blood. Oh, George. Meredith" she paused in the doorway and then watched as George snapped out of his reverie and started to run around the room.

"Meredith! Meredith! Where are you?!" he walked around the back of the couch and yelped at the sight in front of him.

"Meredith. Meredith. Oh god. It's George. We're going to get help" He looked across to Izzie and saw she had moved to the other end of the couch and her face was slowly turning to a new shade of white. "Izzie, look at me. Izzie"

Izzie's eyes slowly moved to his and he could see tears starting to form.

"You have to get help, okay? Call 911. Now" He stared at Izzie until she nodded slowly and then hurriedly whispered okay and ran off into the kitchen.

George quickly felt for a pulse and let out a sigh of relief when he felt a faint, slow pulse under his fingers. He knew it was far too slow and no where near strong enough, but concentrated on the fact that it was there. He moved his hands to her back and rolled up the back of her shirt to search for any injuries and cursed when he saw the long deep wound perilously close to her spine. He rolled the shirt up further and grimaced when he saw another three wounds marring her back. He looked around near him and searched for anything that could stop the bleeding.

"Here" Izzie said quietly as she lay three towels and a medical kit next to his side on the floor.

"Thanks" He pushed them into her back and murmured to himself. "Good. That's good. Okay"

"I called for help. They said they'd be here really soon. I don't know what to do"

"You called for help. You're helping her. Now I need you to come here and hold these towels to her back." Izzie almost looked scared at the prospect and then let the tears fall when she saw her own friends back.

"Why would someone do this to her?"

"I don't know, Iz. We just need to get her to a hospital, okay?" They both turned in shock when they heard the slight gasp from Meredith.

"Meredith. It's George and Izzie. You're okay" he made sure Izzie was holding the towels to her back and grabbed Meredith's hand in one of his.

"What happened, Mer?"

"Hurts. Derek."

"What? Derek did this?" he almost yelled and was glad to see her immediately shake her head and then stop and shut her eyes.

"No. Want Derek. Need Der" her voice trailed off and the sound of sirens filled the void.

"You're going to be okay, Meredith" George squeezed her hand and tried not to worry further when he felt her grip loosen. "Just stay with us, Mer. Please stay with us"

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**Read. Love. Review.**

**Abum xx**


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